Agenda and minutes

Apologies had been received from Cllr Michael Markham.

Councillors Corthorne, Harmsworth, Duncan, Lewis and Simmons and Advisory Members John Holroyd and Andrew Scott declared a personal interest in all agenda items as they were members of the Local Government Pension Scheme, and remained in the room for the meeting.

The minutes of the meeting held on 23 May 2011 were agreed as an accurate record.

Resolved that:

1. Agenda items marked 5 to 10 would be considered in public, and;
2. Agenda items marked 11 to 13 would be considered in private.

The Chairman introduced the report which reviewed the fund management performance of the London Borough of Hillingdon for the period ending 31 March 2011. Members noted that the last quarter showed an underperformance of 0.54% with a positive return of 0.81% compared to the benchmark of 1.35%.

Members discussed the performance of the fund managers in the last quarter. Officers stated that the Investment Strategy was continually reviewed and kept in line with the London Borough of Hillingdon’s funding level. Officers informed the Committee that the London Borough of Hillingdon’s funding level was above the London average.

Members asked if a profile of the workforce could be reviewed alongside the next strategy review.

Members noted that for the quarter ending on 31 March 2011, Hillingdon returned 0.81% underperforming against the WM average by 0.49%. The one year figure shows an underperformance on 3.16%, returning 5.04% against the average return of 8.20%.

Resolved: The Committee noted the content of the report.

The Chairman introduced the report which provided an update on the London Borough of Hillingdon Pension Fund’s fund manager and custodian control reviews. These were recommended under the Statement on Accounting Standards and the Audit and Assurance Faculty of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. The review gave an overview of the third party audit opinion of those controls.

Members asked Officers whether it was necessary to provide a detailed report where no action was needed by the Committee. Officers said that they were required to review the controls and report on them to Committee. Members requested that the next report include trend data.

Resolved: The Committee noted the contents of the report regarding the internal controls in place with the fund managers and custodian.

Members discussed the Pension Fund Budget Report as the Committee had responsibility of overseeing the setting of the annual budget for the operation of the Pension Fund and to monitor income and expenditure against that budget.

Total Member income was £1,295k more than the forecast and a further improvement on the position from month 9. Member’s expenditure was £919k higher than the budget – an increase of 3% on the previous year.

Resolved: The Committee noted the budget outturn position for the 2010/11 financial year.

Resolved: The Committee noted the report

Members discussed the Pensions Administration Performance report. Members noted the dip in performance on the calculation of actual retirements. Officers explained that they were working closely with HR to prioritise the workload of the section.

Resolved: The Committee noted the office action to address the fall in specific aspects of the pensions administration performance.

Resolved: The Committee agreed to defer this item until their next meeting to ensure Members who had expressed an interest in the item were present to take part in the discussion.

This item was discussed as a Part 2 item without the press of public present as the information under discussion contained confidential or exempt information as defined by law in the Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985. This was because it discussed ‘information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)’ (paragraph 3 of the schedule to the Act).

This item was discussed as a Part 2 item without the press of public present as the information under discussion contained confidential or exempt information as defined by law in the Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985. This was because it discussed ‘information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)’ (paragraph 3 of the schedule to the Act).

This item was discussed as a Part 2 item without the press of public present as the information under discussion contained confidential or exempt information as defined by law in the Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985. This was because it discussed ‘information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)’ (paragraph 3 of the schedule to the Act).